Village leaders suspended after corruption charges

Two village leaders in Huanren county, Benxi city, Liaoning province have been suspended from their positions after they were accused of corruption and bullying villagers with violence by a national judo champion, according to a statement from the county government released Thursday afternoon.

Four teams have been sent for further investigation, according to the statement released by Huanren county, Benxi city, as reported by People’s Daily on Thursday.

Ma Duanbin, who won a national judo championship in 2013, posted a statement on his Sina Weibo account on Wednesday night revealing the illegal activities of two village leaders of his hometown of Huashudianzi village.

During the administrations of Liu Zhongjun and his younger brother Liu Zhonghe, the former and current village secretaries, they were accused of embezzling more than 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) from the village factory and national poverty alleviation fund, Ma wrote on Weibo.

Furthermore, villagers who raised objections suffered retaliation from the two brothers.

"Over the past six years, villagers who attempted to report their illegal activities have been held back by violence," Ma told Chongqing Morning Post on Thursday. "Some suffered personal injuries and some suffered property damage."

Ma’s father was also one of the victims.

"About five years ago, Liu’s uncle beat up my 60-year-old father and then occupied my family’s cultivated land," he said.

The village began to develop a schisandra chinensis processing industry — an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine — and set up a factory and production base, Ma wrote on Weibo. However, villagers never received any profit from what is meant to be a collective asset.